Posts
Were the Indians better armed at the Battle of the Little
Bighorn? Yes and no says Richard Allan Fox Jr., author of Archaeology,History, and Custer's Last Battle: The Little Big Horn Re-examined
Custer’s men were initially under no great pressure. The many Indians who were eventually involved
accumulated over time, and cautiously infiltrated up the coulees toward
Custer’s command. Eventually Lt. Calhoun’s company deployed to disperse the
infiltrating hostiles. This set off an
Indian counterattack, and the sudden and unexpected disintegration of the
southern end of Custer’s line. This
disintegration resulted in complete panic and the collapse of the entire
command in swift order. (Fox, 287-288)
In Fox’s view it was the sudden
disintegration of the southern end Custer’s line that resulted in
disaster. Custer’s men were armed with
the single shot .45 Springfield carbine.
According to anecdotal evidence this carbine had significant problems
with jamming, but Fox writes, “Archaeological analyses of cartridge cases…lead
to the conclusion that extraction failure was not a significant factor in the
defeat of Custer’s battalion.” (Fox, 242)
The Indians were armed with repeating Winchester rifles, but Fox tells
us, “Range, stopping power, and accuracy combined to make the Springfield
carbine technically superior to any repeating rifle of the day. The long range Springfield effectively kept
Indians at distances beyond their normal abilities as riflemen.” The effective range of the Springfield exceed
that of the Winchester by at least 400 yards.
The Springfield carbine remained the official cavalry firearm after the
Little Bighorn and until 1893. (Fox, 251) Because of the rugged and broken
terrain at the Little Bighorn, the Indians, armed with repeating rifles, were
able to creep within firing range of the cavalry, which was unusual, “Thus, the
repeater as instrument of shock, coupled with the liability of the single-shot
carbine in close-in fighting, probably contributed significantly to
demoralization….The shock effect was magnified by the likelihood, based on archaeological
data, that the Indians had at least 200 repeating rifles.” (Fox, 253)
For almost one hundred and fifty years,
Custer has been a Rorschach test of American social and personal values.
Whatever else George Armstrong Custer may or may not have been, even in the
twenty-first century, he remains the great lightning rod of American history.
This book presents portraits of Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn as
they have appeared in print over successive decades and in the process
demonstrates the evolution of American values and priorities.
Paperback edition
My titles on Amazon
The best reading experience on
your Android phone or tablet, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows 8 PC or tablet,
BlackBerry, or Windows Phone.
